


How Was It, Frank?

by Emeli_Thorne



Series: Remain Nameless [2]
Category: The Punisher (TV 2017)
Genre: David is her partner in crime, F/M, Fluff, Frank doesn't appreciate it, Frank is brooding, Karen is confused, Kastle are a pair of dumb lovestruck idiots, Micro POV, Micro likes to poke fun at Frank, Sarah POV, Sarah and David are hardcore Kastle shippers, Sarah and David as matchmakers, Sarah is tipsy, Sarah is too invested in this ship y'all, They are disgustingly cute, and puns, and when she's tipsy she's bossy, mostly form David and Sarah because why not, sarah and david kiss a lot here, she'll do whatever it takes to make it sail, some angst and sulking from Frank
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-10
Updated: 2017-12-10
Packaged: 2019-02-13 03:04:00
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,107
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12974454
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Emeli_Thorne/pseuds/Emeli_Thorne
Summary: After their rather uncomfortable misunderstanding at the diner, Frank and Karen have ceased all communication. Frank spends his days sulking and brooding at the Liebermans while they try to help him see it's not such a big deal. Albeit, to no avail.When they realise the situation has gone too far, Sarah and David decide to get involved and stage an intervention dinner like any die-hard shippers would.Hilarity ensues.





	How Was It, Frank?

**Author's Note:**

> Hiiii! Wtf, this thing is 4000 words long?! How? I wasn't even planning on writing a sequel to, what I now refer to as, 'the moose fic', but I got some awesome feedback from you guys on tumblr and here too, and another pun came to my mind so here we are. 
> 
> Told from Sarah and David's POV. 
> 
> I had so much fun writing this so I hope you'll like it :D

Frank spends more time at the Liebermans than he did before. He plays with the kids, fixes things around the house even when they don’t need fixing, has the usual Saturday lunch with them, but nothing is quite right with him.

It doesn’t escape Zach and Leo’s attention how absentminded _uncle Pete_ ’s been lately. He doesn’t speak as much, his responses usually being a combination of grunts and incoherent mumbling.

It sure as hell doesn’t escape Sarah and David’s attention who are the ones left to actually deal with grumpy Frank. He lashes out at David more often now, especially when he mentions the wretched incident, which happens at least once a day. When Sarah tries to talk him into going to see Karen to hash things out, he shuts her down quickly by saying, “Yeah, not gonna happen. Ever.”

* * *

Frank is fixing a leaky faucet in their kitchen while Micro stands leaning against the counter, arms crossed on his chest. He can hear Zach and Leo argue in the living room about some book Zach borrowed from her and managed to spill cocoa all over it. David rolls his eyes and smiles in amusement, already planning to buy his daughter a new one.

Frank is silent as usual, concentrating on the task at hand and ignoring him completely. He can’t help himself but insist, for the umpteenth time that week because he’s sick of Frank’s attitude, "Why don't you just call her, you asshole? It's not the end of the world if you misinterpreted her question. Things like that happen. I remember my first date with Sar- "

Micro is startled when Frank suddenly throws away the tool that was in his hand and turns to him, getting in Micro's face, baring teeth, fixing a menacing stare at him, "Zip it, curly Sue, or I'm gonna pound your head against this counter! Goddamnit, Lieberman, goddamnit!" 

He’s like a caged animal now, pacing the kitchen and rubbing his face, his breaths all broken up. Micro recovers swiftly from the fright as he quips, "Wow, buddy, you gotta work on that repressed sexual desire or you're gonna really fly off the handle one of these days."

The only thing that saves Micro in that moment are his kids running into the kitchen screaming bloody murder. Frank picks up the tool he previously threw away and goes back to work.

* * * 

When they hit a three-month mark without any kind of communication, David and Sarah realise the situation has gone too far and that they have to do something since neither Frank nor Karen show any signs of getting over it. 

In the short time they’ve known Frank, he became a part of their family ( _a very angry, very grumpy, stress-inducing dear uncle Pete_ ) and neither of them can stand to watch Frank sulk, look longingly at his cell phone as he goes through his contacts (there are only a few names there) every few hours, or pour over Karen's articles over and over again like they're the best book he has ever read, and act like nothing is wrong.

It’s two in the morning when Sarah wakes her husband up and tells him about an idea she had of fixing this mess.

* * *

When the bell rings on a Wednesday evening just as Sarah finishes setting the table, Micro goes to open the door as Frank stands in full alert by the kitchen island, the knife he was slicing the tomatoes with still in his hand. For a second Sarah thinks this is the side of Frank she has yet to see – the full-on Punisher ready for combat. Him holding the knife like he is actually ready to use it for something other than slicing tomatoes helps paint an even sharper picture of Frank’s alter ego.

His voice is gruff, eyes darting towards the back door, around the kitchen, fingers flexing around the knife handle, “You expectin’ someone? I thought i’ was only gonna be us three."

Sarah senses panic in his voice and rushes to calm him, "I invited a friend over, Frank. Don’t worry."

She notes the way his posture changes in matter of milliseconds. His eyes are wide open and fixed on something behind her. He is clenching his teeth so hard she thinks he might break them.

_Okay... This is going to be interesting..._

She turns around slowly to greet their guest, but not before glancing at the knife in Frank’s hand. She’s about ninety-nine per cent sure he won’t use it on them, but still. They’ve picked and prodded him for three months, this just might be his breaking point.

"Look who's here!" Micro exclaims grinning widely, leading Karen into the room and Sarah is quick to take off her apron and hug the blonde who is sporting the same dumbfound look on her face as Frank, lips slightly parted.

"Oh, Karen. I'm so glad you could make it!" she tells her and feels Karen's body stiffen as she whispers, trepidation obvious in her voice, "I wouldn't have come if I'd known he would be here."

Sarah gives her arm an apologetic squeeze just as Micro, arms akimbo, says, gaze shifting nervously between Frank (who is still holding that damn knife!) and Karen, "We invited you both over for dinner because we consider you our friends. Now, I expect you both to act like civilized people. We're gonna eat this amazing food my dear wife spent two hours cooking, we're gonna talk and have fun. And no, you're not allowed to leave!" 

The last utterance was meant for Frank who was halfway to the back door (sans the knife, thank god!), already taking his jacket off the rack. He halts, leaves the jacket and turns around to give David his deadliest stare yet, the muscle in his jaw ticking in a way he’s never seen before.

"I, um, I brought wine. Frank mentioned you liked wine," Karen tells Sarah, her voice shaky as she hands her the bottle. It’s a welcoming distraction and Sarah thanks her, inviting her to sit at the table.

“You look lovely, Karen. That dress is gorgeous. Don’t you think so, Frank?” Sarah prompts, looking at Frank who resumed slicing tomatoes. She gives him her most innocent smile, aware he must have realised what their plan is by now. He is yet to look at or say anything to Karen, so he can’t blame her for trying to start a conversation.

Frank clears his throat before finally daring to lift his gaze to Karen, “Yeah, you look real nice, Karen.” Sarah notes the blush creeping up their cheeks and fights a squeal about to leave her mouth. She glances at David who winks at her, signalling they’re on the right track.

“Thank you. Both,” Karen says, her voice trembling as she adjusts on the chair, tucking a strand of her curled hair behind her ear.

Nodding to nothing in particular, Sarah turns to Frank again, “Frank, if you’re all done with the salad, why don’t you join Karen at the table while David and I bring out the food.”

Frank and Karen’s eyes widen in perfect sync and they seem like they are about to object being left alone but Sarah‘s already turned her back to them and David is quick to follow her.

 

“What did Karen say when you told her Frank’s here?” Sarah whispers as she takes the cake she made out of the oven and places it on the counter while David picks up napkins from a drawer. 

“She was... pissed. She actually wanted to leave immediately but I convinced her to stay.”

“Good job, honey,” Sarah kisses him briefly, reaching in the cupboard behind him to take out wine glasses. “I hope they manage to resolve this thing tonight. I don’t think I can take this anymore.”

“You’re telling me?” David asks, leaning towards her and lowering his voice, “I’m the one he gets angry with whenever I mention her. At least you get the gentle treatment.”

Sarah grins, quirking her eyebrows, “Jealous, David?” 

He rolls his eyes waving her off, “Yeah, right. You haven’t been on the receiving end of his glares and insults. The other day he called me curly Sue. Curly Sue, Sarah!”

“Well I love these locks,” Sarah tells him giving him another kiss, “Besides, if this doesn’t work, I’m locking them in a room.”

When they return with the food, Frank and Karen are sitting across from each other in complete silence, staring at the plates in front of them. Karen’s drawing circle on the tablecloth and Frank is... Brooding. 

Placing the salad and other dishes on the table, Sarah sits next to Karen and David takes a seat next to Frank.

“Please, help yourselves,” Sarah tells them as she smiles widely, glancing between Karen and Frank.

Frank’s leg is anxiously jumping up and down, David notices. He hears him mutter, “I’m gonna kill you for this.”

Micro snorts, picking up a fork. From the corner of his eye, he sees Frank glare daggers at him and he swallows hard, decidedly ignoring him as he proceeds to pile food onto his plate. He looks up to see Sarah rubbing at the spot on her neck like she always does when she’s uncomfortable. Brows furrowed, he inaudibly questions what’s wrong and she just shakes her head.

“So, Karen,” Sarah starts, “what’s new with you?”

* * *

The rest of the evening, after they had finished dinner and moved to the living room, goes by in much the same atmosphere: Frank and Karen ignoring each other and it’s up to David and Sarah to try and engage them in any kind of verbal exchange. They start from Karen’s job (again), Frank being so helpful around the house and with kids, Sarah taking up knitting, and end up talking about the weather.

In spite of their most fervent efforts, Karen and Frank never address each other directly. By the end of the evening, Karen is deep in conversation with Sarah, and Frank is deep in conversation with David, both complaining about the Liebermans luring them into this ‘lovely’ dinner under false pretence. Although, Sarah does catch them sneaking glances when the other isn’t looking. _Good, not all is lost_ , she thinks, and nudges David to fill their glasses.

None of them drank too much. However, they did drink, both the wine Karen brought and the wine Sarah had stashed from her husband and Frank (they tended to drink whatever they got their hands on when nostalgia kicked in for their roommate days and they started goofing around; Frank really took liking to rosé). It was enough though for the next phase in the Liebermans plan to reconcile Kastle. Yes, _Kastle_ , because it’s too damn long to say Karen and Frank every time they have to talk about them.

Not long after, both David and Karen start yawning, exhaustion kicking in. Karen starts excusing herself, thanking them for dinner and gets up to leave. Sarah catches Karen off guard when she wraps her hand around Karen’s wrist, pulling her back onto the couch. Karen frowns and opens her mouth to speak, but Sarah interrupts her.

“Sorry, missy, but you’re not going anywhere.”

Karen gives her a confused look, crossing her arms, still holding onto her handbag, “I really have to go. I have work tomorrow.”

Shaking her head, Sarah tells her, “I know but you drank, it’s not safe”, managing to infuse a generous amount of concern in her voice which she hopes sounds sincere.

“I’ll just call a cab,” Karen answers stubbornly, her voice slightly shaky before she gets up to leave again.

Sarah continues insisting waving around with her hands, “No no, it’ll be better if you stayed here. You too, Frank” she says, pointing her now almost empty glass at Frank who is sitting opposite from them. She winks at David who immediately pick up on her cue and pats his friend on the back, “Yeah, buddy. We’ve got enough room down in the basement.”

Frank is already on his feet, putting his glass on the table as he firmly states in that patented gravelly voice of his, “I’m not staying here, Sarah,” like he actually has any saying in this. _Please_ , David thinks, _you’ve got nothing on Sarah once she sets her mind on something._

“Sorry, Frank” Sarah starts, getting up. She is a bit unsteady on her feet so David has to hold her. “I can’t risk something happening to you this late at night while you’re all alone on the streets.”

Cocking his head to the side, Frank looks at her from under his lashes, a crooked grin on his face, “You do remember who I am, right?”

“End of discussion,” Sarah exclaims. “Now, my husband and I will go make your beds. You stay here,” with an exasperated sigh, she takes David’s hand and pulls him towards the basement.

* * *

The four of them are cramped in the basement turned guest room/living area. There are two beige sofas that David pulled out to make Kastle their beds, a white coffee table between them, a few paintings hanging on the peach coloured walls, two closets, a television and a small bathroom. It's not much, but it is tastefully decorated and functional. Kids like to use it when their friends come over and they want to get away from adults or when Zach wants to play videogames without being disturbed.

Frank's clenching his fists, eyes darting towards the door. His gaze is met by Sarah's who wordlessly sends him a clear message not to try and do something stupid, like leave, or there will be consequences. She hopes she looks intimidating enough since she's pretty tipsy and her control over her facial expressions is not as good as when she's sober. He keeps his eyes on her for a moment longer then nods almost imperceptibly, indicating her understood her. 

That’s good, since she doesn’t think she has it in her to continue this argument with them. At least not tonight. There is a comfy bed waiting for her upstairs, and it almost feels like it’s beckoning her now. She really shouldn’t have drunk that last glass of wine.

“Ok, so, take whichever you want. I know these are just pullouts but I guarantee they are the most comfortable ones you can imagine,” David tells them as he sets the last pillow on the covers and turns to them with a wide grin.

 _Bless his heart_ , he is so much more chill about this than her, Sarah thinks.

Karen shifts from one foot to the other, playing with her hair and looking fretfully at Sarah. The poor soul has already tried to convince them several times she would be just fine calling a cab but they wouldn't let either of them leave the house. 

One could argue that Sarah and David are holding them hostage. And they might be right. The line between a peaceful reconciliation and a forced one has already been crossed thanks to Kastle's behaving like immature sexually repressed idiots. Sarah loves them, but god, they are more exhausting then her own two children. She imagines this is what teenagers are like and for a second is terrified by the thought of having to go through this exact same thing with Zach and Leo in a couple of years. 

So no, they don't get to leave, they don't get to weasel out of resolving this one way or another this very night.

“I can just sleep on the couch in the living room, really.”

Sarah stands silently leaned against the handrail, barely awake, her eyelids fluttering shut. Karen’s attempt to get out of this ordeal jump-starts her but she's too drowsy to think of a response. Wide-eyed and panicked, she turns to David.

Luckily, he manages to answer calmly, repressing a smile,“Well, the living room’s primarily for entertaining guests. We don’t actually expect anyone to sleep there. That’s why we made the basement so cosy.” He pulls down covers from one of the sofas and tries it with his hand, “See? So soft and cosy,” he grins broadly at her but Karen doesn’t seem reassured. David catches her glance at Frank for a brief moment before refocusing on the makeshift bed.

Sarah seems to recover as she forces a laugh, spitting out words that by some miracle don't come out slurred, “Yeah, what David said. Anyway, We’ll leave you to it. We’ll see you both in the morning. Good night. Don’t let the bed bugs bite!”

She takes David by the hand as they climb up the stairs, closing the door behind them. She closes her eyes for a moment to recover, leaning her head on David's chest. Then she cups his face and kisses him senseless. 

“Nice save, babe. My mind kinda froze there.” 

David beams against her lips, wrapping his arms around her, “No problem. But what if one of them leaves during the night? Or goes to sleep in the living room? How good of a plan is this?"

"I’ll turn on the alarm. I already changed the code this morning so Frank won’t be able to crack it. I hope. As for the couch... We’ll just have to cross out fingers and hope for the best. It’s not like we can actually lock them inside, right? Besides, they want to hash this out, trust me."

They climb up to their bedroom and snuggle against each other, temporarily forgetting about their two dumb love-struck friends stuck in their basement.

* * *

When the morning comes, bathing their bedroom in soft light, Sarah takes her time rolling in bed, pretending she is still asleep. These are the last instants of tranquility she will have today so she wants to enjoy them. In her mind, she lists all the things she has to do today: pick up kids from school, take Leo to her soccer practice, pick up dry-cleaning, help Zach finish his school assignment.

David is off from work today so he is going to make lunch, leaving her enough time to go to the hairdresser’s, a visit she’s been postponing for a month now.

The phone rings downstairs, officially marking the beginning of her day so she gets up, yawning, and stretches. After she brushes her teeth and takes a shower, Sarah pulls out a sweater, some jeans and socks out of her drawer, gets dressed and heads to the kitchen. 

The sight that greets her makes her stomach grumble. The table is filled with blueberry pancakes, waffles, scrambled eggs and bacon. There is also a bowl brimming with fresh fruit and she can hear the kettle whistling, probably for David's tea. Her husband is dashing around, picking up dirty pans and bowls and cleaning the mess he made while cooking.

"What's all this?" She asks, looking around the kitchen, gaze stopping at four mugs and four glasses on the counter.

David turns around when he hears her voice, seeming all excited. He scoops her up and gives her a long kiss, nuzzling her neck. Sarah giggles as lowers his head and starts trailing kisses along her jawline. 

"You smell wonderful."

"Thank you. You haven't answered my question.”

David sighs, looking around, “I was kind of nervous about our basement friends, especially Frank. I thought I get on their good side with food should they wake up all grumpy and angry with us."

Sarah smiles, hugging him tightly, "Good idea. Though I doubt they’ll be anything but relaxed and content this morning." 

They chuckle just as Frank appears in all his black attire, followed by Karen. She’s got her hair tied in a ponytail and her dress looks a little rumpled.

“Good morning,” Frank greets them, voice hoarse as he takes a seat at the table. 

“Good morning you two. I made us all breakfast, scrambled eggs and bacon for you, Frank. Just the way you like it.”

Franks nods and makes a noncommittal sound, taking a piece of toast. Karen sits across from him, tucking the dress under her, eyes trained on the plate in front of her. She clears her throat, “Thank you, David. Wow, are you feeding a small army?”

Micro laughs as Sarah and he put the mugs full of coffee on the table join them, “Nah, I just like breakfast. My favourite meal of the day.”

“This is really wonderful honey,” Sarah blows him a kiss across the table as she starts piling pancakes onto her plate.

Frank stops chewing for a moment and joins in, “Yeah, man. Thanks for this.”

“No problem, glad you can all enjoy it.”

They eat in silence for awhile, enjoying the food. From what Sarah and David can notice, Frank has become more comfortable with his civilian life as he now eats more slowly and takes times to taste the food instead of just shoving it in his mouth like someone is going to take it away from him. He likes his eggs scrambled with the side of bacon, likes his coffee black and bitter to keep his mind sharp. Curiously, Karen likes her coffee just like that as well, says it keeps her wide awake and more focused on her job.

Taking a sip of his herbal tea, Micro glances at Frank and asks,

“So, Frank. How was the pull out?”

There’s a choking sound followed by coughs to his left and right. Frank and Karen are looking at each other as they struggle for breath, Sarah clapping Karen on the back and Micro mimics her by doing the same to Frank. It sounds like they are coughing out their entire lungs. Sarah gets up to bring them both water as tears roll down their reddened cheeks and Micro looks anything but innocent as he suppresses a laugh.

“Here you go, you two,” Sarah hastily puts the glasses with water in front of them and sits back on her chair, drawing circles on Karen’s back.

“You ok, sweetheart?” Sara prompts worriedly Karen and the blonde nods weakly, wheezing. 

“How about you Frank?”

He opens his eyes, inhaling sharply, “Mmm fine,” he mutters barely audibly.

It takes them some time to recover completely and Micro can’t help but quip again,

“So, how was the pull out, Frank?”

Frank lifts his head slowly, an impassive expression on his face, “What?”

“The sofa?”

“Fine, fine. It was fine” is the answer he gives calmly, but Micro notices the way he is gripping his fork. He knows, he _knows_ , Sarah will give him an earful for this later but he is having too much fun to stop.

“Yeah? No backaches? I heard you grumble last night. Though you had a cramp or something.”

If looks could kill, David is sure he would be dead already because Frank is scowling at him like he’s counting all the ways he could end him here and now with as little effort as possible.

Frank answers languidly in that well-known Punisher voice filled with threat “No, I was fine.”

Looking up, Micro sees Sarah staring daggers at him, a tight smile playing on her lips. If she was going for scary, she is definitely failing because it only encourages him more.

“Hmmm. How about you Karen. No backaches?”

Karen pauses, hand frozen mid-air, looking sheepish and swallowing hard, “I, uh, no, no, no backaches. It was just like you said, very comfortable.”

She goes to tuck her hair behind her ear, a nervous tick for sure, before realising she tied her hair. Her hand falls on the table, then she grips the coffee mug and drinks up everything at once. Micro cringes because the beverage is most probably scalding her throat and tongue, but she makes no sound of complaint.

Still chewing on his food, Micro nods to himself, “Good to know, good to know.”

* * *

Karen and Sarah are standing in the hallway as Karen puts on her coat. David and Frank are in the garage, apparently David needed Frank to check on something. Sarah can only imagine what is happening there, judging by Frank’s attitude when after breakfast he practically dragged David to the garage. Like her husband, she is curious so it is of no wonder when, arms crossed on her chest, she dares to ask Karen, albeit timidly,

“So, the pull out wasn’t too soft for you?” a mischievous smile draws across her face.

Karen cocks and eyebrow, suppressing a grin, “No, it was hard enough.”

The next thing out of Sarah’s mouth is completely unplanned, “Mmmh, and the moose?”

Karen laughs wholeheartedly, eyes sparkling, “Very well endowed,” and winks at her.

**Author's Note:**

> If any of you watched Stranger Things 2, a line/scene might seem familiar. Yeah, I 'borrowed' it, but it goes so well with the moose line so why not, right?
> 
> I'm not sure if I managed to translate well Sarah and David's voice in this fic, but I gave my best.
> 
> Don't be shy, leave a comment and let me know if it made you laugh or if you liked any particular part :D


End file.
